Michael Rae’s arson sentence appeal dismissed

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal dismissed Michael Rae’s appeal against the severity of his sentence on 5 April 2019. Birmingham P. delivered the court’s judgment, which found that the sentence was not outside the available range.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court had imposed a five-year prison sentence for criminal damage/arson on 14 June 2018, suspending the final year.

Rae had appeared for sentence on three counts: criminal damage to the wall and sitting room window of a dwelling, criminal damage to a motor vehicle, and endangerment. Prosecution counsel asked the Circuit Court to sentence him on the first criminal damage count and take the other two matters into consideration.

During the appeal, the sentencing judge was criticised for not placing the offence on a scale of gravity. It was also argued that a seven-year headline sentence was inappropriate and that aggravating factors had been applied twice.